TEXAS
The Monitor
There’s an old axiom to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Perhaps that is why Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra offered his opponent and successor, District Attorney-elect Ricardo Rodriguez, an appointment to act as a special prosecutor on the 54-year-old Irene Garza murder case before he is forced to vacate the office that he has held for 32 years.
We don’t believe this was a wise course of action by Guerra and in some ways trivializes, by making political, the Garza case. So we applaud the decision by Rodriguez this week to decline the offer.
Whatever the motivation, it’s more than curious that Guerra would try and turn over this specific case to Rodriguez just days after a bitter election loss — especially since Rodriguez’ supporters touted the long-cold Garza murder case during the campaign against Guerra.
Some are calling it sour grapes. And that sounds like a likely conclusion, especially since we’ve heard from several people within the community of Guerra’s open disappointment and anger about losing his coveted position.
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